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In the US are many new retirees who are stuck at minimum Social Security benefits forever, due to having to start their payments early at 62 in order to have ANY income at all. These decisions are not made of freedom but of necessity - decisions made under duress.
With no other income, the arithmetic does not work out at all for living. This is existence, not living! If one is forced to do file early and receive minimum benefits, due to bad economics, the benefits need to increase each year according to what the rate is for that year, as if one is just entering the system, until the maximum is reached at 65 or 66, for those who have no other income at all! Lest we forget - This is America! Where are the organizations who "say" they support the well being of seniors?
The availability of actual assistance is near nil, with none of that offering anything more than emergency or band aid "help". (Don't be a single male with no children!) All the government hype about ending homelessness, helping those who have the least, is just hype, as the "Tale of the Tape" reveals the actual story - Homelessness and need have increased drastically among have-nots. (An exhaustive and continuing, study is done of Connect-To-Care, the Dallas government's excuse for a help mechanism, which showed their listed "resources" to be the same overworked, underfunded, organizations that have always been there.) There has been repackaging of the same "resources" lists in other websites and organizations, while the resources themselves remain unchanged or less funded, leaving those who actually need help the most, in the same or worse overall shape. If there are little to no actual resources available, which is the case in reality, what do these organizations actually do? Jobs for those who have! Notice how many low income people are employed in any of these.
With the baby-boomer generation coming into retirement age, there is a large number of retirees just entering the social security system, who spent their working lives at relatively unskilled jobs that offered no retirement plan, no insurance, no 401s, and the like, that paid so little that saving was out of the question. This was influenced by the full scale and unregulated "outsourcing" of jobs, and the demise of unions. Life after 50 meant jobs and job offers, lessened or ceased altogether. This economic forced many into accepting less than livable Social Security, made and is making, a large group of retirement age have-nots who are out of work and in need of available assistance.
(Of sour note is the many who are plagued by student loans whose collection arms are more than willing to accept and/or forcably take, from those who who have no other income than Social Security and/or who are below the poverty level, leaving that individual with nothing at all, below where rent can be paid, food purchased - a loose cannon. If you are living on the edge, not making enough for basics, this particular organization will still try and take from you, oblivious to the fact they can be rendering a person homeless!)
And no, retraining doesn't get you a job or help with age discrimination. The fact that a senior has to ask someone for a job in the first place instead of having them call you, is the real issue. To say there is no age discrimination is denying reality in many, if not, most, cases. Experience is relatively meaningless after a certain age.
The question is Not how anyone got to retirement without having, but how to remediate it starting, Now, without looking at how and/or, especially, why, that individual got to retirement age in this shape in the first place.
I think that's called - Non Judgemental. Remember that one. Takin a real beatin since the internet! So has honesty.
And especially, of question, why this subject is one that so many don't want to address, see others address, have commentary/dialogue about, and why the refusal to offer explanation to back up this "reasoning"/stance for not wanting such discussion. If a stance is solid, it stands on its own merit, and there is no fear, no reasoning for not putting it up for scrutiny! Of question is the unwillingness-refusal to help anyone who doesn't have, without knowing their pedigree, or more.
What happened to helping someone who doesn't have, without knowing, or even trying to find out, how they came not to have? Not just band-aid motion but sufficient to help fellow humans get themselves out of the cycle of poverty itself.
I put a lot of different but related subjects in this post to elicit your responses::D.
Thank you.
It is true that workers have more rights now than ever but those rights are in many, if not most, cases, insufficient, and/or virtually nonexistent, where there are no unions, which is where most jobs are, especially low paying jobs. Unions have been on the decline, not only by their own doing, but with systematic help. They wielded too much power for the big companies. There was massive corruption from base level to top management. The history and effects of this demise has been well documented. Weak, to no, workers rights is a natural and direct outcome of diminished union strength. What about the question of why the government didn't actively oversee the cleanup of unions and help them flourish, like they did the big companies, when they got in trouble, instead of actively aiding their demise? For what constituency does a representative work toward making conditions worse for workers? This is where voting and unions are valuable.
Screening "these people" out is endemic of the problem. 
A police record places anyone with one in more need of job than those, who don't, as they have that extra hurdle that in reality, does need extra help. A person can't be assumed to be a "criminal" solely because they have a "police record".
I want to take the one about illiteracy and not graduating from high school with enough skills. Look back among these posts and you will see some of the examples where high schools didn't prepare a lot of people. Look at the post by mickstuder about his school. They took out Economics. Huh? In my school as a freshman, General Business was being eliminated. As I said, this is not something anyone purposely did. It's nobody's FAULT! The educational system needed updating then but instead we were left with "Shakespeare". There's nothing "wrong" and the people who came out of this system are not "these people" but US!
And no I don't demonize Wally World. They save money to make money. I shop at Wal-Mart but I stay away from their cheap stuff for the most part. The fact that they sell a lot of foreign made products is that most of it can't be made as cheaply in the US. The products Americans can make the most money from are high end, high dollar products, to be sold to these burgeoning, foreign, economies. They are looking for "Made in the US" and are willing to pay top dollar for it. They want it made here by Americans, with American materials and savvy, too, and are willing to pay even more for that.
- We mostly have an issue with the skills gap --- there are many jobs going unfilled because there is no one with enough background to go into them. Some companies are addressing this and have some type of variation on the old idea of apprentiship. More community colleges are working with local businesses.
This is major and America, we need to look at this and take full advantage of it. Just because you're 60 doesn't mean you can't learn. Opposite! Y'wanna stack that knowledge. Exercise that gray matter! Another factor is that jobs are where they are AT. You have to go to them. America has always been made of that. There's an oil boom in North Dakota right now. Housing can't keep up.
And c'mon, isn't DOING fun. Waddya think about being alive and kickin at 60+?! This generation of retirees is more mobile, more able.
Nope I'm not going to jump on you. I commend you. I don't think we're screwed though. We're products, not victims, of an evolution that no One person controlled. I thought I was screwed too once I bottomed out on the streets. My vehicle was gone, pockets empty. I could grab a meal at any one of many soup lines, maybe spend the worst nights on some gym floor because the shelters were too crowded otherwise. I wasn't eligible for Social Security yet. I didn't ask anybody for help because from the bottom up one can readily see the apathy of those who have for those who don't. I've been asking for discussion, explanation, of that rationale.
From both asking and listening, a small, broken, 80s pickup was found, for less than junk price. The priority was to get a vehicle. As I have said, one can live in one's vehicle, but can't drive their apartment. With a $15 set of tools and a book, the truck was running. I had a new home, some dollars, and a way to work. This job was continued through finish with the money and truck used to return to the megalopolis. IF you are homeless, please take example as I have used this multiple times to pull myself off the street itself. Nothing works for everybody, though, OK.
I started this discussion in hopes of collecting ideas on how to overcome this situation. True, it Does look like we're screwed. I'm glad you pointed that out. Hope is not gone. It's just on vacation.
OlGray;
There are many people who planned as you and had things happen that wiped them out economically and in many other ways, effectively taking them out of society. There are many happenings that no planning, no foresight, could have fixed and/or prevented. Nobody's "Fault". There is nothing "wrong". The question/issue is where's the help once it does?!
The same is asked of the AARP.
Of course this led to the question of why there are so many disenfranchised people whose numbers are increasing - instead of decreasing - daily and why there is no push to help those who don't have, as opposed to resistance to even having dialogue about doing so.
Reality is harsh, especially when benevolence is on crutches, being ushered out the door by our ol' buddy, Greed.
Man has yet to invent any system that can withstand catastrophic events. When Social Security first came into being, there was no way to forsee the present day. Health care is debated heavily today. We're straddled with having to carve out a new way.
The choices are self reliance, self reliance, and self reliance. That self reliance can also be group efforts. Families working together. Friends working together. Folks helping other - (Huh!). (Shhhhh. Some of that requires trust.)
THE biggest challenge today for seniors who need to make money is to figure out what We ourselves, Can do since "Jobs" are not happening. Options are look and see what we have, look and see what we have, and look and see what we have. Now we have choices. 
Lets select option 1.
We've all done a ton of things, had a crapload of experiences. With some thought, a little imagination (dreaming), some of it might produce an idea that has potential to make profit. As previously mentioned, even the introduction to the kind of thinking that makes that easier, was going away when we were in early high school. So we are where we have to learn How to make money as well as work for it at retirement age - a lot harder than when we were young - Or is it? I try to make it sound easy when it really is one of the most difficult questions.
Once that money is made - jumping ahead to success not gained - how to manage and expand it to do our bidding - another sport that taken off many carriculum before many of our high school times - becomes the issue. A lot of the information needed though, to learn about starting and doing business, can be found on the web for free. The Small Business Administration is an asset here for information. They have complete models for a lot of businesses if you go that deep.
Lets look at something more grass rootsy:
One of the popular money-makers in this part of the world is barbeque. Some folks have mobile rigs and sell in parking lots and the like. Some of the rigs are rudimentary, 55 gallon drum cut in two, bolted to a set of wheels, is a popular low end starter. Check your local regulations, though when it comes to selling any kind of food. You may already make something that can be a seller. Another of popular home made item sold is the tamale.
The beauty of selling a food item is that usually the recipe can be found at home with many being family secrets of superior taste. Many a recipe has been tested, tweaked, and proven for generations. One can find home recipes sold at the corner stores, profitable for both store and cook. There are clubs, bars, and pubs, who buy certain products made locally.
Simply put - How much does it cost to make it and for how much can you sell it. (Don't forget to figure time.) Then the question is Will it sell.
Think of the fun you have in the test stages. You can't lose with food, whether it sells or not.
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